Esoteric universal disc player just for audio

The SA-60: a new high-end player with a difference

Prestigious high-end hi-fi manufacturer, Esoteric - a 20-year-old division of TEAC ­- has announced details of a new universal disc player with a difference: it doesn't play video.

First seen at the London Sound & Vision Show 2007 in September, the new SA-60 is described as a "universal audio disc player" and is compatible with both stereo and multichannel SACD and DVD-Audio discs, as well as CD and CD-R/RW discs.

Under the skin

Priced at £3,495, the new player sports a specially designed VRDS transport mechanism - regarded by many as the world's finest - which is housed in Esoteric's no-nonsense rigid alloy chassis. The player has been engineered to audiophile standards with highly rigid steel and aluminum isolation plating said to give superior anti-vibration and anti-resonance properties.

It introduces an element of sound tailoring, too: users can choose between various filter settings to best suit their musical preferences - a feature exclusive to high-end disc players. Technically, the player offers clever proprietary filter algorithms in the audio up-conversion and features an updated, high-precision 24-bit Digital to Analogue convertor (DAC) from Cirrus Logic.

Connectivity

The new player offers a host of connectivity options including both stereo and mulitchannel RCA outputs, plus digital outs on coaxial, and optical (TosLink) sockets.